1. Firefox surpasses IE6 in browser share

    October 29, 2009 by admin

    It has been a long time coming but Firefox has finally surpassed Internet Explorer 6 in market share. Standards advocates and designers have been trying for years to have IE6 removed, but somehow, due to those who just use the browser that comes with windows and choose never to update, it just has not died. Microsoft, in a move that has not helped, has extended support for the browser till the middle of 2010, and given longer extensions to other editions of Windows. Fortunately, with a multitude of new browsers, and the publicity surrounding them, there is more awareness now of the extra features and standards compliance that the new browsers bring.

    What suprises most is that at the very least, there has been no massive move to newer version of IE, especially since IE6 does not have any form of tabbed browsing.

    According to October browser usage statistics, as reported on the tech site Ars Technica, Firefox has finally surpassed the grandfather of the modern browser. Still, IE6’s market share of 23% is still massive when you take into account the sheer number of computers online, and still more than any other single browser. Firefox now has 24% of worldwide browser share, but only if you combine all editions of Firefox. IE6 market share is expected to erode further when both Home users and corporate users upgrade to Windows 7, and we are then likely to see a massive surge in the market share of IE8.

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  2. Make your Firefox more like Google Chrome with Pin Tabs

    October 28, 2009 by admin

    One of the best features or visual components of the Google Chrome browser are its tabs. Called pin tabs, they are compact tabs that are not very wide, barely the width of a favicon and allow the user to have a lot more tabs open compared to the standard fare in other browsers like Firefox. It is one of the many features that make the Chrome browser what it is today, and its minimalist feel adds a sense of efficiency and usability to crowded browsing sessions. As ususal, whenever there is a feature that Firefox does not support natively, someone will always develop a plugin or addon for it. In this case, the addon is called the Pin Tab extension for Firefox.

    Simply download and install the extension, and you are ready to go. In order to pin a tab, you simple control click on an existing tab and it shrinks and moves to the very left of the tab bar. Pinned tabs are preserverd across all sessions and cannot be moved accidently moved using the address bar. New URL’s are opened in a new tab whenver they are entered while a pinned tab is selected. Pinning a tab is also as simple as dragging an existing tab to the left, while the opposite, dragging a tab to the right, unpins it. As a Firefox user, these pinned tabs save a lot of space, as they are several factors smaller than the default tabs.

    If you are heavy browser user, with ten or more tabs open, this extension will greatly improve your browsing experience.

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  3. Adobe releases Photoshop Elements 8

    October 25, 2009 by admin

    In the last week of September, Adobe announced the release of Photoshop Elements 8 which is the slightly lighter consumer oriented version of its photo editing software. For the Windows release Photoshop Elements 8 includes improved features such as people recognition, Photomerge Exposure that lets you take differently exposed photos of the same scene and merge them all to create one uniformed shot (similar to High Dynamic Range photos) and improved online sharing.

    Photoshop Elements for Mac ships this October and includes a Bridge CS4 for image management, scene cleaning that removes unwanted objects like people and cars from the scene and touchup brushes to improve your photos. Photoshop Elements 8 also ships at ninety nine dollars for Windows and Mac users. Windows users also have the option of picking up Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and Adobe Premiere 8 as a bundle for just one hundred and forty nine dollars. Windows users can also download the trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements from their website so that they can try out before they purchase the product.

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  4. How to add a “copy path” option to the Windows context menu

    October 24, 2009 by admin

    If you are a windows user you may be familiar with the menu that appears when you right click on an object in Windows Explorer. This menu is called the context menu and it allows you to cut, copy, rename, send file to a specific source and rename. But what do you do if you simply want to copy the file path to open in a new window or to copy it to another text document?

    Copy Path is a utility that adds the Copy Path function to your context menu. Therefore when you right click on something you have the option of copying the file’s path to the clipboard. The program’s functionality is similar to Clip Path, although Copy Path goes one step further and gives you the ability to copy the path of not only files but the entire directory or the parent directory itself.

    Copy Path can be useful in many ways. If you are an everyday user of emails and need to attach files to your email you can simply copy the path of the file and past in the browse window, instead of having to trudge through the layers of folders to get to the particular file. It will also be useful if you are a network administrator for an organization and need to provide the locations of various files on a shared server.

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  5. mSpot streaming Hollywood movies to mobile phones

    October 17, 2009 by admin

    mSpot, the US mobile entertainment company has begun streaming full length movies to mobile phones. The company stated that it has agreements with big name studios such as Paramount, Universal and Weinstein Co. Studios to bring these movies to users’ mobile phones. mSpot currently has over three hundred movies available for viewing including new movies such as the Soloist, the Reader and the Curios Case of Benjamin Button. The company hopes to have thousands in its library by the end of the year.

    mSpot states that streaming movies, a service currently available only in the US works with Four mobile service providers and with over thirty types of handsets including iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices. mSpot’s movies are directly streamed to users’ mobile devices on demand and begin playing immediately. The movies can also be stopped and played as the user wishes. Although services like Apple’s iStore provides movies for its mobile phones and iPods, these movies have to be downloaded to a computer and then synched with the device. A movie on mSpot costs $4.99 and can be purchased with a credit card. mSpot also offers its viewers the opportunity to purchase a movie club membership. To keep the cost low for the user, mSpot recommends that users have an unlimited data plan with their providers.

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  6. OnLive secures more funding, sees strong interest

    October 14, 2009 by admin

    OnLive is a cloud based service that aims to change the way people play video games stated that they have received a new round of funding and also said that interest from potential users has exceeded their expectations. OnLive declined to disclose how large the round of investments was, but CEO Steve Perlman had stated that it was a large investment at a large valuation. This is especially important for a company that has yet to claim a dollar in revenue.

    OnLive was in development for over seven years, before it was unveiled last Spring, shocking the industry with its revelations. Analysts claim that if the technology works as promised, it may pose a threat to console makers such as Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. OnLive’s technology aims to run games on servers in the cloud, rather than locally on a PC or a console. OnLive has already signed up several big names in the gaming industry including Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive Software. The company promises to provide an on demand, lag free gaming experience even on graphically rich games such as Crysis. OnLive is currently setting up its infrastructure and uses three data centers to handle user demand. The company hopes to employ five data centers on launch day.

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  7. Dell launches high-end, thin business PC

    October 7, 2009 by admin

    Dell recently unveiled its latest high-end, ultra thin business PC incorporating a fresh design to its range of enterprise computers. Dell calls its new Latitude Z the world’s thinnest and lightest laptop, weighing about 4.5 pounds and about an inch thick. That being said the Latitude Z does not come cheap. The new notebook retails at $1,999 and the company is targeting a segment they call impression makers such as creative individuals.

    Advances in technology are allowing PC makers to build thinner and lighter computers, and thinner and lighter is definitely a priority for PC makers this fall. Vice President of Dell’s commercial client product group, Todd Forsythe said “We’re seeing thin and light spread throughout our portfolio.” This new revolutionary PC is said to be the first laptop to offer wireless charging and inductive docking. This means that the ultra thin Latitude Z can be charged without a cord simply by using a special docking station. However the docking station is sold separately.
    The Latitude Z also comes with a nifty always on function that allows instant access to email and internet and a touch screen function that lets you launch applications and scroll through web pages.

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  8. Microsoft Security Essentials Available for Download

    October 5, 2009 by admin

    After introducing Microsoft Security Essentials Beta to 75,000 beta testers, the software giant has now made its antivirus software available for free download. This beta version of the antivirus program is said to protect Windows from Malware, Spyware and computer viruses. Microsoft is targeting its Security Essentials Beta software to low bandwidth users with less powerful PCs. The company also states that it is targeting the core anti-malware features that most users do not keep up to date. The company also said that it is making the software available for free in order to lessen the cost barrier that has stopped consumers from using proper protection for their PCs in the past. However, Microsoft says that the software is not a PC tuning and backing-up suite. Instead the program is geared to provide high quality protection from Malware.

    Since Microsoft’s Security Essentials is free and provides adequate protection for PC users, it may wipeout the need for users to pay for their security software. This will affect major companies like McAfee, Symantec and Arbor, whose core products have been protecting PCs from viruses and Malware for decades. However executives claimed that they do not intend to wipe out competition and point out that free solutions such as this have been around for some time. The free release comes just before the company launches its new operating system Windows 7, although it is unclear if the new Security Essentials software will come bundled with the operating system.

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  9. Future Firefox 4.0 Could Feature ‘App Tabs’

    October 1, 2009 by admin

    The folks at Firefox periodically look for new ideas from its band of developers. In its latest brainstorming session it appears that Firefox is looking to simplify their browsers. Recent hic-ups with their browsers on Windows Vista and Windows 7 have made the developers take a hard look at their work, especially the interface.

    Taking a few cues from other browsers that have entered the market the team are focusing on maximizing screen real estate and eliminating redundant buttons from their browser. For an example the menu bar and the buttons take up a lot of space, sometime much space. Aside from maximizing real estate the team is looking at usability. Most current users subscribe to a many services such as Gmail, Twitter, Digg, del.icio.us etc. Thus the team feels that grouping all of these most used services together and pinning them to a portion of the screen where they can be easily accessed will be useful. This is by far the biggest change that users will see in the new Mozilla Firefox 4.0 apart from the increased screen real estate reduction in redundant buttons. The Mozilla team are also planning a few more subtle changes like limiting the page title only to the tab as opposed to the tab and the title bar of the browser, as it is currently done. This may not improve performance or help you out, but it is part of a cleanup process that the organization has undertaken.

    That being said, no one can really comment on how the new browser will be received by the masses. In early days Firefox was hailed for its security and then its versatility by using plug-ins. We will simply have to wait and see if it still is a better browser than the new Internet Explorer and whether it will be able to gain market share and beat out competing browsers.

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